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10-10-2010
October 10, 2010
ISS On-Orbit Status 10/10/10

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Sunday – Crew rest day. First full day with the Exp-25 six-member crew. Ahead: Week 3 of Increment 25.

Yest kasaniya! Soyuz TMA-01M/24S docked successfully last evening at 8:01pm EDT at the MRM2 “Poisk” module zenith port, 1 min ahead of schedule, on Soyuz orbit #33 (DO1), 5 min before local sunset. This doubles the station crew size to 6 persons and brings the total number of currently docked Russian VVs (visiting vehicles) to 4:
  • Soyuz TMA-01M/24S (#701) @ MRM2 “Poisk” zenith,
  • Soyuz TMA-19/23S (#229) @ MRM1 “Rassvet”
  • Progress M-05M/37P (#405) @ DC-1 nadir
  • Progress M-07M/39P 39P (#407) @ SM aft.

It was also the 67th Russian flight to ISS (out of a total of 103 missions).

TMA-01M/24S delivered Exp-25 crewmembers FE-1 Alexander “Sasha” Kaleri, FE-2 Oleg “Alik” Skripochka & FE-3 Scott Kelly. [For Skripochka, it is the first spaceflight, for Kelly, who flew on STS-103/HubbleRepair & STS-118, it is the third, and for Kaleri, past crewmember of ISS Exp-8 and Mir expeditions 11, 22 & 28, it is the fifth, making him currently one of the most experienced space fliers in the world.]
Welcome aboard, Scott, Alex and Oleg!

The newcomers joined CDR Douglas “Wheels” Wheelock, FE-5 Fyodor “Fedya” Yurchikhin & FE-6 Shannon Walker. After 3h1m spent in Soyuz on pre-transfer activities, hatches were opened at 11:10pm and the crew transferred to the ISS. This was followed by the traditional welcome event and the installation of the BZV QD (quick disconnect) clamps of the docking & internal transfer mechanism (SSVP) by Kaleri, to rigidize the joint. [The Soyuz TV system was activated at ~7:17pm EDT; final approach on automatic KURS pilot began at ~7:52pm. Shortly after "kasaniya" (contact), automatic "sborka" (closing of Soyuz & SM port hooks & latches) took place at ~8:11pm with ISS in free drift. Attitude control authority had been handed over to the Russian MCS (Motion Control System) thrusters at ~5:08pm and returned to US CMG (Control Moment Gyroscope) control at ~9:25pm. For the docking, Russian thrusters were disabled (9:45pm-11:50pm) during Soyuz volume pressurization & clamp installation and afterwards returned to active attitude control. Before hatch opening, the crew performed leak checks of the Soyuz modules and the Soyuz/MRM2 interface vestibule. They then doffed their Sokol suits, and Skripochka & Kaleri set suits and gloves up for drying. Alex also deactivated the BOA/Atmosphere Purification Unit in the SA/Descent Module, replaced the Soyuz ECLSS LiOH cartridges, equalized Soyuz/ISS pressures, and put the spacecraft into conservation mode on ISS integrated power. Note: During final approach, the Soyuz crew reported that the Neptun InPU-1 (Display Panel #1) performed an uncommanded reboot. Specialists will be reviewing this discrepancy.]

Sleep cycle shift: To accommodate last night’s arrival of Soyuz TMA-01M/24S at ~8:01pm, crew wake/sleep cycle changes were put in effect, featuring a two-part Saturday workday and a workfree Sunday:
  • Wake (Saturday) – 2:00am EDT
  • Lunch (Saturday) – 9:00am
  • Sleep 1 (Saturday) – 10:00am
  • Wake 1 (Saturday) – 2:00pm
  • Sleep 2 (Sunday, today) – 4:30am (work free)
  • Wake 2 (Monday, tomorrow) – 2:00am – returning to nominal.

At ~1:30pm today, CDR Doug Wheelock interrupted his sleep period for about 20 min to remove the second set of six PADIAC ECs (Pathway Different Activators Experiment Containers) from the KUBIK-3 thermally controlled container and transferred them to BLB TCU2 (Biolab Thermal Control Unit 2) in COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory). [PADIAC deals with cell biology, focusing on the all-important human immune system. In microgravity, the activation process of T-cells, the immune system’s instruments, is altered. This could weaken the performance of the immune system. Purpose of PADIAC is to activate human T-cells in micro-G by different activation “cocktails”. Cells will be fixated at end of experiment run for on-ground analysis to (1) determine how micro-G affects expression of genes in human T-cells when using different activators, (2) distinguish micro-G effects from other spaceflight factors (using the on-board 1-g centrifuge), and (3) verify results of ground studies and previous space experiments. Hoped-for benefit is a better understanding of signal transduction (pathways) in T-cells. Outcome could help to find countermeasures against the influence of micro-G, especially for long term missions such as the human Mars expedition. For the long experiment run, 6 ECs (+1 mass dummy, to establish proper mass in the container) were installed in KUBIK-6 (in EDR/European Drawer Rack) for 25h30m. For the short run, 6 ECs (+1 mass dummy) were installed in the stand-alone KUBIK-3 and removed by Wheels today after 9h for transferring 6 ECs to BLB TCU2 and trashing the mass dummy.]

No CEO photo targets uplinked for today.

ISS Orbit (as of this morning, 7:31am EDT [= epoch])
Mean altitude – 353.5 km
Apogee height – 358.7 km
Perigee height – 348.4 km
Period -- 91.61 min.
Inclination (to Equator) -- 51.65 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0007612
Solar Beta Angle -- 8.3 deg (magnitude increasing)
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.72
Mean altitude loss in the last 24 hours – 114 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. 98) – 68,160.

Significant Events Ahead (all dates Eastern Time and subject to change):
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
10/26/10 -- Progress M-05M/37P undock
10/27/10 -- Progress M-08M/40P launch
10/29/10 -- Progress M-08M/40P docking
11/01/10 -- STS-133/Discovery launch (ULF5 – ELC4, PMM) ~4:40pm EDT
11/03/10 -- STS-133/Discovery docking ~1:13pm EDT
11/07/10 -- --------------Daylight Saving Time ends-----------
11/10/10 -- STS-133/Discovery undock ~5:40am EST
11/12/10 -- STS-133/Discovery landing (KSC) ~10:39am EST11/12/10 -- Russian EVA-26
11/17/10 -- Russian EVA-27
11/30/10 -- Soyuz TMA-19/23S undock/landing (End of Increment 25)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
12/13/10 -- Soyuz TMA-20/25S launch – Kondratyev (CDR-27)/Coleman/Nespoli
12/15/10 -- Soyuz TMA-20/25S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
12/20/10 -- Progress M-07M/39P undock
01/24/11 -- Progress M-08M/40P undock
01/28/11 -- Progress M-09M/41P launch
01/31/11 -- Progress M-09M/41P docking
02/xx/11 -- Russian EVA-28
02/15/11 -- ATV-2 “Johannes Kepler” launch
02/27/11 -- STS-134/Endeavour (ULF6 – ELC3, AMS-02)
03/16/11 -- Soyuz TMA-01M/24S undock/landing (End of Increment 26)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
03/20/11 -- Soyuz TMA-21/26S launch – A. Borisienko (CDR-28)/R.Garan/A.Samokutayev
03/22/11 -- Soyuz TMA-21/26S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
04/26/11 -- Progress M-09M/41P undock
04/27/11 -- Progress M-10M/42P launch
04/29/11 -- Progress M-10M/42P docking
05/xx/11 -- Russian EVA-29
05/16/11 -- Soyuz TMA-20/25S undock/landing (End of Increment 27)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
05/30/11 -- Soyuz TMA-22/27S launch – M. Fossum (CDR-29)/S. Furukawa/S. Volkov
06/01/11 -- Soyuz TMA-22/27S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
06/21/11 -- Progress M-11M/43P launch
06/23/11 -- Progress M-11M/43P docking
08/29/11 -- Progress M-11M/43P undocking
08/30/11 -- Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/01/11 -- Progress M-12M/44P docking
09/16/11 – Soyuz TMA-21/26S undock/landing (End of Increment 28)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
09/30/11 -- Soyuz TMA-23/28S launch – D.Burbank (CDR-30)/A.Shkaplerov/A.Ivanishin
10/02/11 – Soyuz TMA-23/28S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
10/20/11 -- Progress M-10M/42P undocking
10/21/11 -- Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/23/11 -- Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/16/11 -- Soyuz TMA-22/27S undock/landing (End of Increment 29)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
11/30/11 -- Soyuz TMA-24/29S launch – O.Kononenko (CDR-31)/A.Kuipers/D.Pettit
12/02/11 -- Soyuz TMA-24/29S docking
--------------Six-crew operations----------------
12/??/11 -- 3R Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) w/ERA – on Proton.
12/26/11 -- Progress M-13M/45P undock
03/14/12 -- Soyuz TMA-23/28S undock/landing (End of Increment 30)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
03/26/12 -- Soyuz TMA-25/30S launch – G.Padalka (CDR-32)/J.Acaba/K.Valkov
03/28/12 -- Soyuz TMA-25/30S docking
--------------Six-crew operations----------------
05/15/12 -- Soyuz TMA-24/29S undock/landing (End of Increment 31)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
05/29/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S launch – S.Williams (CDR-33)/Y.Malenchenko/A.Hoshide
05/31/12 – Soyuz TMA-26/31S docking
--------------Six-crew operations----------------
09/09/12 -- Soyuz TMA-25/30S undock/landing (End of Increment 32)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
09/23/12 -- Soyuz TMA-27/32S launch – K.Ford (CDR-34)/O. Novitskiy/E.Tarelkin
09/25/12 – Soyuz TMA-27/32S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
10/07/12 -- Soyuz TMA-26/31S undock/landing (End of Increment 33)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
11/xx/12 -- Soyuz TMA-28/33S launch – C.Hadfield (CDR-35)/T.Mashburn/R.Romanenko
11/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-28/33S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------
03/xx/12 -- Soyuz TMA-27/32S undock/landing (End of Increment 34)
--------------Three-crew operations-------------
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S launch.
03/xx/12 – Soyuz TMA-29/34S docking
--------------Six-crew operations-------------



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